Patients who have primary open-angle glaucoma might see a greater impact on their perfused capillary density (PCD) than patients with myopia, according to new research developed using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A). The study, published in the April issue of JAMA Ophthalmology, studied 87 people with myopic eyes with glaucoma, 17 patients with myopic eyes without glaucoma, 93 patients with non-myopic eyes with glaucoma and 51 control participants. These subjects were assessed for perfused capillary density (PCD) using OCT-A.¹

Previous research shows PCD is associated with glaucomatous damage, which is easily visualized using OCT-A. One study found a mean PCD in glaucomatous eyes of 80.6%—significantly less than the 93.0% found in normal eyes.² PCD is also known to decrease in pathological myopia, leading the researchers in this study to look for a possible connection between the two disease states using the new imaging modality.³

They found PCD progressively decreased from the control group’s status to the myopia-without-glaucoma group, followed by the glaucoma-without-myopia subjects. The group with both myopia and glaucoma saw the greatest decrease in PCD.¹

Despite the interesting results, the study’s cross-sectional design hinders the researchers from determining if the association is a cause of or is only associated with other confounding factors, the authors note.¹